When I went into my screening of Weapons, I happened to be wearing one of my Longlegs T-shirts. I had a whole conversation with the employee (shout-out to AMC) about how excited we both were for Zach Cregger's new film, and how the lead-up to its premiere felt a lot like the excitement of Longlegs last year.And then, of course, I loved Weapons. While the film's $42.5 million opening weekend has grabbed headlines, I'm super excited for what it means only to the genre, but to filmmaking as a whole. Horror Doesn't Need Franchises to WinWeapons succeeded because it offered something audiences didn't expect from a genre increasingly dominated by sequels and reboots. Did you know original screenplays have only led the box office six times over 36 weekends in 2025, according to Rotten Tomatoes? That makes Cregger's achievement, the seventh, all the more significant.Warner Bros. has become the first studio to have six consecutive films earning more than $40 million at their opening box offices (via ScreenRant). And half of those were original stories.I hope this helps signal to studios that we're desperate for new films and unique stories. And writers, rest assured that your unique voice still matters, so keep crafting those original scripts. The Mid-Budget Movie is ValuableWeapons was snatched up after an intense bidding war and the success of Barbarian, Cregger’s first film. Again, that was an original flick that showcased a fresh voice, and execs were clamoring for it as far back as Jan. 2023....
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Today